


Fly

by smilexdarling



Series: 12 Days of SteveTony 2015 [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, F/M, First Kiss, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Light Angst, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, Teen Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 10:05:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5452715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilexdarling/pseuds/smilexdarling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes, all it takes is getting beaten up by bullies, an awkward meeting in a bathroom, and an undone fly to rekindle a friendship. </p>
<p>Or</p>
<p>That time Tony was self-sacrificing in order to benefit Steve; Sam, Bucky, and Clint were the best bros a guy could ask for; and Natasha was an absolute legend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fly

Tony splashed some water onto his face. He felt it run down his neck, wetting the collar of his t-shirt, but he didn’t really care. A wet shirt wouldn’t make him look any worse than he already did.

He braced his hands on either side of the sink and blinked the water out of his eyes before looking himself over in the mirror. 

He looked terrible. The usual asshats that cornered him to work out their excess amounts of testosterone and exert some archaic idea of dominance had decided to get creative that day since it was raining out and there was mud everywhere near the track they used for gym class. 

The process had gone as it usually did: the stereotypical jocks separated him from the crowed, roughed him up, stole whatever cash he had on him, then threatened him. It was what they threatened him with that always kept him from going to anyone for help because, as much as he hated giving those idiots what they wanted, there was no way he was going to risk having them follow through on what they had planned in case he did decide to speak up. 

Anyway, he was covered in mud from head to toe and he had forgotten to pack a change of clothes, so he was screwed. The jocks also decided long ago that the showers in the locker room were off limits to Tony so the sink in the rarely-used bathroom near the art hallway was all he had to try and get the muck out of his hair. It hadn’t really worked. 

He shook his head at himself and stood there unsure of what to do. A toilet flushed and the door to one of the stalls opened, about making Tony jump out of his skin. He hadn’t known anyone else was in there. He’d stumbled blindly into the bathroom, mud in one’s eyes was not conducive to having great observational skills, and apparently he’d missed the fact that he wasn’t alone. 

The surprise was jarring enough but it was who came out of the stall that took his breath away. 

Steve tugged at his sleeves so that he could push them up to wash his hands and he hadn’t yet looked up. Tony stood there stock still. 

He couldn’t bolt, his shoes were wet and he’d probably just slip and make an even bigger fool of himself, plus there was no way Steve wouldn’t notice that. But he couldn’t stay there and what, talk to Steve? They hadn’t talked in about a year. Tony gulped and darted his eyes around for any possible solution to this unexpected, unwelcome surprise but his brain wasn’t running at full capacity so before he could come up with an escape plan, Steve reached the sinks and met his eyes. 

They stared at each other for a long, so freaking long, moment in silence. Steve looked like he was trying to think of something to say but Tony beat him to it.

“Your fly is open.” 

Yep. That was the grand sentence his supposedly incredible brain came up with to break their year long streak of not speaking to each other. If he could’ve felt his hands, Tony would’ve face-palmed. 

Steve still looked bewildered but jerked a little and looked to see that, in fact, his fly was open so he quickly zipped it up. 

He looked back at Tony, a timid expression on his face, “Tony, what happened?”

Tony remembered that he was still dripping wet and smudging mud all over the bathroom floor. He felt a glob of it slide down his back and he shivered, “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. I gotta go.”

He turned to gather up his jacket and backpack. 

Steve said, “You’ve got a cut on your cheek and your eye looks kind of yellow, did you have a black eye?”

Tony tensed, he hadn’t noticed the cut on his cheek but a quick glance in the mirror confirmed that yep, he did have one and it was dripping blood down the side of his face, making it look much worse than it actually was. He didn’t care about that either though, all he wanted was to get out of that god-forsaken school, into some clean, warm clothes, and away from Steve. 

When Tony didn’t answer, Steve asked, “Who did this to you?”

Tony hated to admit it, but he felt a small, tiny, itty-bitty spark of pleasure at the protective tone that colored Steve’s words. But he couldn’t get Steve involved. Tony ignored Steve and sped past him, his shoes making a ridiculous squelching noise that undercut his dramatic storm out, but before he could make it all the way to the door Steve gently grabbed Tony’s arm.

Tony shook him off and Steve put his hands up in front of him, a flash of hurt showed on his face before he reverted back to just looking worried, “Sorry. I just wanted to help.”

For some reason that Tony couldn’t quite understand, those puppy dog eyes and wrinkled forehead that he knew reflected complete, genuine concern for him made him angry. 

Before he could stop himself, Tony grit out, “If you wanna help, tell your neanderthal friends to leave me the fuck alone.”

With that, he turned and squished out of the bathroom. 

* * *

Steve couldn’t look away from the door. If it weren’t for the little puddles of mud tracked all over the bathroom, he would’ve thought that entire scene had all ben a figment of his imagination. 

He hardly ever saw Tony anymore, something he knew was surely due to the fact that when Tony wanted to avoid you, you would almost think he had ceased to exist. 

It had been a year and three weeks since Tony had ended their friendship. It was last year, during the spring semester of their sophomore year. Steve had been busy going to the gym to try and bulk up, something the growth spurt that he’d been in the middle of at the time helped with immensely, in preparation for trying out for the football team for the next year. One day, Tony had met him at their usual spot near their lockers at the end of the day with one of the most serious expressions Steve had ever seen on him. He’d assumed something horrible had happened but nothing had, yet. 

Tony had mumbled through some story about how he didn’t want to be friends with Steve anymore, about how he thought they were growing apart, and he hoped Steve would understand and respect his wishes to be left alone from that point on. 

Steve had been so shocked that his best friend had suddenly decided to dump him, that all he had been able to do was nod and watch Tony walk away. It had hit him later, of course, hard. He’d gone home and had a long, distraught cry about it. His mom had found him curled up on his bed, wallowing, and she’d tried to comfort him by coming up with ideas to figure out what was really going on because ‘There was no way Tony didn’t really want to be his friend. Tony adored Steve,’ but Steve had refused, vowing to still be a good friend to Tony and not bother him, if that’s what he wanted. 

He’d focused on fitness and his art and school, but that summer had been a long, boring one. Things picked up a little when football tryouts and practice started. He had been happy to make the team, but not being able to run and tell Tony had reopened that already not fully healed wound. 

He saw Tony on rare occasions around school, but they didn’t share any classes. Tony didn’t join student council again either, something Steve had hoped would allow him to at least have some excuse to see Tony regularly, but when he hadn’t shown up to their first meeting, Steve had decided he couldn’t keep focusing so much on someone who clearly was done with him. 

So, he’d made an effort to get to know his teammates and he’d been happy to meet a couple of the guys in particular, Bucky and Sam, and having them around finally lifted his spirits for the first time in months. 

Now it was almost the end of their junior year, and Steve was still in disbelief about the fact that he had a great circle of friends that consisted of more than one or two people. He could probably even consider himself popular, and he was a varsity player for their football team. His grades were good, he was really improving with his art, and he was the student body Vice President. But there was a very noticeable Tony-shaped hole that he couldn’t ever fully forget about.

Lots of things still reminded him of Tony, that was to be expected considering how long they’d been best friends and how much Steve knew he’d always care about Tony, but the worst part was seeing that apparently things hadn’t been going as well for Tony as they had been for Steve. 

Seeing him so beaten down, covered in mud, and looking resigned broke Steve’s heart. He always wished he could’ve gotten a better explanation about why Tony didn’t want to be his friend anymore, especially now that apparently even being near Steve or having him touch him made him so angry. Steve couldn’t for the life of him figure out what he’d done but he was determined to get to the bottom of what he’d walked in on. 

Tony had said something about talking to Steve’s ‘neanderthal friends’ which meant someone close to Steve had done that to Tony. He couldn’t believe that but he knew Tony wasn’t a liar. Steve washed his hands and headed toward the cafeteria.

* * *

“Hey man, we got you some pizza before they ran out. I’ll accept candy as thanks, preferably chocolate,” Sam said as he scooted over to make room next to him for Steve at their table. 

Steve nodded absentmindedly. He looked between Sam, Bucky, and Natasha and asked, “You guys know Tony, right?”

“Tony Stark?” Bucky asked.

“Yeah, he’s in our grade, really smart, got a 36 on his ACT and was in the school newspaper for it,” Steve rattled off.

Sam chuckled, “Man, you read the school newspaper?”

Steve shot him a look but didn’t answer. Natasha said, “I know of him. You two used to be friends.” 

It wasn’t a question but Steve nodded anyway, “We did, but um, do any of you know anything about him getting beaten up?”

They all shook their heads no and Steve sighed, “Okay, thanks anyway.”

“Why so glum, chum?” Clint asked as he dropped his tray down with a clatter and pressed up close to Natasha’s side. 

Natasha wasn’t big on letting people touch her, but Clint was the obvious exception to that. It made sense, they were secretly-not-so-secretly a thing. 

“Steve was asking if we knew about that kid Tony Stark getting beaten up,” Bucky said around his bite of tater tots. 

“Oh. Huh…” Clint trailed off.

Steve leaned in eagerly, “Do you know something?”

Clint fiddled with his plastic fork until Natasha grabbed his hand to get his attention and signed something too quick for Steve to catch. A small smile crossed his lips until he continued, “I have gym with him and I’ve seen some guys from the football team mess with him a few times. I would’ve done something but I didn’t ever see them actually hurt him and well, they’re pretty big guys, so…”

“It’s okay Clint, do you know their names?” Steve asked.

“Well, their jerseys said Rumlow, Hammer, and Odinson, but it wasn’t Thor. I think it was his brother, but I can’t remember his name.”

“Okay, thanks. I know who you’re talking about,” Steve said. He pushed his pizza away; he hadn’t felt hungry since he’d seen Tony. 

“Wanna fill us in on what you’re thinkin’ so hard about?” Bucky asked.

“I just saw Tony and he had bruises and a cut on his face. He’d obviously been hurt by someone, he didn’t say who exactly, but I’ll bet it was those three Clint just named,” Steve said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.

“What do you need us to do?” Sam asked.

Steve looked up at him in surprise, “Wait, really? You want to help me?”

“Yeah, duh. Even if he wasn’t someone you used to be friends with, you know I can’t just hear about people being bullied and not doing anything. Who do you think I am?” 

Steve smiled a shaky smile. 

“Just say the word, Stevie, we’ve got your back,” Bucky added. 

Steve could’ve hugged the both of them, but instead of dealing with Natasha’s inevitable teasing that would bring about, he decided to have them help him come up with a plan.

* * *

Steve was on pins and needles. It was a couple of days later, when Clint said he and Tony had gym class again, and Steve was in his ceramics class, surreptitiously sneaking peaks at his phone to see if any news had come from Clint.

Clint had scoped out the location near where he usually saw Tony being cornered and had found a spot up in a tree that he could hide in and not be seen in order to film anything that happened on his phone.

The plan was to take that footage and show it to Steve’s guidance counselor, Mr. Coulson, who he knew had a lot of pull with their principal Dr. Fury. Steve had wanted to just take care of business themselves, clean records be damned, but Bucky and Sam had talked him out of that and into an admittedly more sensible, and probably more effective, plan to help Tony.

Bucky and Sam were going to sneak into the locker room and do something to Justin, Brock, and Loki’s stuff that they wouldn’t tell Steve anything about. Natasha had stayed silent during the entire discussion but he had a feeling she’d come up with a plan of her own. He didn’t know if he was more excited or scared to find out what it was.

Steve’s teacher Ms. Hill was a great teacher, and normally he was attentive and cared about what she had to say during class, but it was proving to be insanely difficult to care about texturing techniques at that moment. 

Finally, his phone lit up under his desk and Steve opened his text from Clint: _Got it. All systems are go. Hawkeye out._

Steve rolled his eyes at the dumb codename Clint had come up with. They all had them, thanks to Clint, but only Clint was insistent on using his. 

A couple of minutes later, Sam texted him letting him know that his and Bucky’s plan had been derailed, as they were going to put itching powder in all three of the guys’ underwear, but they couldn’t find any in their lockers. 

He texted back that it was probably for the best anyway and thanked them for trying. 

Steve breathed a sigh of relief knowing the first stage of their plan had worked; now all they could do was wait until after school to talk to Mr. Coulson.

* * *

Tony was gathering all of his books into his backpack at his locker when he heard his name over the intercom telling him his presence was needed in the counseling office. That was weird, he wondered if maybe they wanted to talk to him about the status of his college applications. He zipped up his bag, hefted if over his shoulder, and wove through the throngs of students in the direction of the office.

Mr. Coulson met him and led him back to his office with that ever present serene look on his face that gave no indication of what was going on. It could either be comforting or irritating and today Tony was finding it to be more of the latter. 

He followed Coulson through his office door and stopped. Sat around his desk were Steve, his friend Clint, and the three dickwads that only a few hours earlier had gotten in a few punches to his stomach and pushed him into the side of the school, turned out brick wasn’t a very forgiving material, and stolen his money. They’d also found his glasses in his pocket and decided that their usual assholery wasn’t enough, so they’d smashed them. 

He had a pretty good idea what was going on but this was exactly what he’d been trying to keep from happening all along. Dammit Steve, why’d he have to have such a rescuer complex?

“Tony, please have a seat. It’s come to my attention that Misters Hammer, Rumlow, and Odinson have been conducting themselves in a way that is unfit for students of this school, or for decent human beings for that matter, and you have been the victim of some of their harassment. Is that correct?”

Tony didn’t meet anyones’ eyes, keeping his locked on his balled up fists in his lap, and nodded. 

“Can you tell me how long this has been going on?”

“Sir, this is all a misunderstanding. If I could just—“

“Mr. Hammer, it would behoove you to keep your mouth shut until I ask you a direct question,” Coulson said, his calm exterior cracking, but only a tiny bit. He was good.

Tony saw Coulson turn back towards him and he asked in a much calmer tone, “Tony?”

Tony took a deep breath. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go, but he didn’t see a way to brush it under the rug now, “It started last year.”

“Alright. Well, based on evidence and testimony presented to me by Mr. Barton, as well as the information you’ve provided, it’s safe to say that you won’t have to deal with this issue anymore. Please wait here while I escort these three to Dr. Fury’s office,” Coulson said as he ushered Hammer, Odinson, and Rumlow out, leaving Tony with Clint and Steve.

They sat in silence for a few minutes but eventually Tony glared at Steve and whispered, “Why did you do this?”

Steve once again looked surprised, he obviously hadn’t expected that reaction, and said, “You told me to tell my friends to leave you alone. Well, they aren’t my friends, I’ve never liked those guys and now I know why, but when I found out what was happening I had to do something. Tony, I did all of this to help you.”

“I didn’t want your help, I just said that because I was pissed and I didn’t think you’d actually do anything. Although, that was probably stupid of me to assume. What’s his deal?” Tony gestured toward Clint.

“Clint helped us gather evidence against them.”

“What? How—dude, who even are you?” Tony asked Clint but Clint didn’t respond, he just kept staring straight ahead.

“Um, hello? Is he alright?” Tony asked Steve.

Steve rolled his eyes and waved his hand in front of Clint who jumped and turned toward him, asking, “What?”

Steve pointed to his ear and Clint brought his hand up to one of his ears to mess with something Tony couldn’t see. Steve said, “Tony asked you a question.”

Clint looked at Tony, “Oh, sorry man. I tuned you all out. What’d you wanna ask me?”

Tony saw that he had a hearing aid and realized that he’d completely forgotten what he was going to ask anyway so he sighed, “Never mind.”

It had been an exhausting day and he just wanted to go home and sleep. He still needed to figure out how to replace his glasses without his parents finding out and he needed to ask Jarvis to check and see if he had any scrapes that needed tending to on his back. 

Mr. Coulson walked back in just then. He thanked Steve and Clint for their help in resolving the situation and told Tony he would keep him posted on what happened with his bullies. Tony hated that word, it sounded too juvenile, but he guessed that’s what they were. 

They all walked out, side by side, and when they reached the doors to the parking lot, Clint bade them a hasty goodbye as he ran off toward a girl Tony recognized as Natasha Romanoff. They kissed, got into her car, and sped off before Steve spoke up.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you. I’m sorry you didn’t like that I intervened but I won’t apologize for helping put a stop to you being bullied. I wish you would’ve come to me sooner, Tony. You may not be my friend anymore but I’ll always be yours,” Steve said. 

Tony ruminated for a second and decided it was time to come clean, “Can I give you a ride? I want to talk.”

Steve agreed and Tony drove them, not to either of their houses, but to their old, favorite spot. Tony hadn’t been back there since he’d ended everything, he knew it would hurt too much to go alone, but pulling up to the spot now didn’t hurt at all. It felt like coming home.

They parked the car on the top of the hill that overlooked the river. This spot was pretty much perfectly located between their houses and growing up they always met up here and spent hours playing games, swimming, hanging out underneath the big trees and watching the water. 

Neither of them made any move to get out and Tony started talking, unable to turn and look at Steve, but he could see that Steve had situated himself sideways in the passenger seat to face Tony. 

“You always wanted to play football and be really involved in school. It mattered to you and it mattered to your mom that you had a good high school experience. I was holding you back. We started out freshman year as a couple of scrawny, nerdy kids that only ever spent time with each other and didn’t branch out. You didn’t want to join clubs that I wasn’t in and I didn’t want to get very involved because I wasn’t as good at making friends as you are. 

“I could tell that you weren’t putting yourself out there because you didn’t want me to feel left out and you didn’t want me to feel like I was getting left behind. I’ll admit, seeing you make other friends so easily, did make me a little jealous at first. But then I realized that that was really shitty of me to feel that way and that I wanted you to have everything you wanted, too. 

“So when Hammer and his cohorts confronted me and said that you’d have no chance of making it onto the team if you were friends with me, it seemed like the obvious thing to do. I hated doing it, Steve, but I had to let you go and so that you’d meet other people and do the things you always really wanted. You had started getting bigger and bulkier anyway, I was still tiny and pathetic and a giant nerd, not someone the guy you wanted to be would be best friends with,” Tony finished miserably. 

“Oh, Tony,” Steve muttered.

“And I couldn’t tell you anything because I knew you’d think it was stupid but it was the only way, Steve. And when Hammer found out something about me, he used it to lord over me, and that just made it even more impossible to tell you.”

“What did he find out?” Steve asked.

Tony shook his head, fighting back the tears he could feel gathering in the corners of his eyes, “It doesn’t matter. The point is, he threatened to make you look really bad and to ruin your reputation and to make it impossible for you to enjoy being on the football team if I didn’t stay away from you. I couldn’t risk that. You’d worked so hard to become who you are now and I couldn’t be the reason that all went away. It’s not worth it.”

Steve huffed out an exasperated breath, “Tony, you’re really infuriating sometimes, you know that?”

Tony ducked his head, Steve continued, “Of course you’re worth it. I don’t care more about status or playing football than I care about having you in my life. I thought you had just decided you didn’t like me anymore and that’s why I left you alone. I didn’t want to force myself on you but I can’t believe you think I would ever put football and popularity over you. Tony, look at me, please.”

Tony slowly turned and looked into Steve’s eyes. They pinned him to the spot and he couldn’t look away if he wanted to, “This past year has been tough without you. Yeah, some great things have happened and I’m glad I made the friends that I have, but I’ve missed you through it all, so much. You’re my best friend and,” Steve blushed and glanced away, “and this may not be the best time to tell you but I realized, too late, that I actually have more than platonic feelings for you.”

“You what?”

Steve met his eyes once more, determination shining in them, “I like you. I have a crush on you. I think I have for a long time, since middle school probably, but I don’t think I was ready to acknowledge it before. It took losing you for me to realize it and of course then it was too late.”

“It’s not too late,” Tony said without getting permission from his brain, he really needed to work on his filter. 

Steve gaped at him. “You mean, you like me too?” Steve asked and his hopeful expression made Tony’s heart stutter. 

“Yeah. That was Hammer’s leverage. He figured out that I had feelings for you and threatened to out both of us, even though I didn’t think you could like guys, let alone me, but I knew that even a rumor like that could’ve ruined everything for you.”

Steve sighed, “I’m so sorry you had to deal with all of that alone. I wish you would’ve told me but, honestly, if I had been in your shoes I probably would have done the same thing.”

“We’re just a couple of self-sacrificing schmoes huh?”

Steve chuckled and then Tony joined in, pretty soon they were both cracking up, tears running down their faces. 

“Oh my gosh, we’re so dumb. It’s a good thing we have each other,” Steve said through the last bubbles of laughter.

Tony didn’t let himself think too much about it and grabbed Steve’s hand, linking their fingers together, “Yeah, it is.” 

Steve looked between Tony’s eyes and his mouth a couple of times before seeming to make up his mind and leaning in slowly. Tony met him halfway and they kissed.

He knew it sounded so corny and like something out of a Nicholas Sparks novel, but Tony was flying. Everything melted away for those few seconds of kissing and all he knew was that Steve’s lips were so perfectly soft and fit with his like they were made for it. 

“Promise that from now on, if you have any doubts or problems that you’ll come talk to me before you decide to break up with me again? No matter how noble you’re trying to be and no matter if it seems like there’s no other choice?”

Tony stroked Steve’s cheek with his thumb, “I promise.” 

* * *

Tony rushed over to his new lunch table, the one he now shared with Steve, Sam, Bucky, Natasha, and Clint. It was much better than eating lunch in the computer lab, especially since he technically wasn’t allowed to eat there. 

He sat down, kissed Steve on the cheek, and tried to catch his breath so he could form words, but it was proving difficult with his elevated levels of excitement.

“Why do you look so happy? I would’ve thought you’d be upset considering today is Justin, Loki, and Brock’s first day back after the suspension,” Steve said.

“I was but I’ve got some hilariously karmic news,” Tony said.

Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Clint all waited expectantly and Tony couldn’t hold out for dramatic pause, so he blurted, “Hammer was late to school because his tires on his new car were slashed when he went outside to get in it this morning, and you know how much he loved to gloat about his perfect no tardies record, and his stupid new car. 

“The school flag was replaced with one that had a picture of Loki’s face superimposed over a baboon’s with a bright red ass, and three pairs of underwear that people are saying were Loki, Justin, and Brock’s underwear. Every gym class for the first three periods saw it, as well as the environmental science classes. It took forever to get it down because the rope had been covered in lube. 

“Rumlow started screeching about killing people all of a sudden in gym today when we were all getting changed and I snuck a peak to see what happened: his favorite, super expensive boxing gloves had been ripped to shreds and the remains were left piled up in his locker with a bright, red bow on top.”

Bucky whistled and Sam sat back with a shocked smile. Clint thanked the gods for letting those three get what they deserved and Steve looked pleased. Tony knew he liked when justice was restored. 

Natasha, however, was suspiciously quiet and didn’t react to the news at all. She just kept staring at the book she was reading until she must have felt Tony staring at her and she glanced up. 

Tony didn’t think she’d ever made direct eye contact with him before, so he was a little taken aback, but he was downright shocked when her lips curved into a fleeting smirk and she winked at him. And just as quickly as it had happened, she went right back to ignoring him and focused on her book.

Everyone else seemed to have missed it, as they were all conjecturing about who their unsung hero was. Tony smiled to himself and decided to keep this one between the two of them. 

He guessed that all of the pain over the past year had been worth it if it meant he ended up where he was, with the best boyfriend he could’ve asked for and his best friend back, and a group of friends who would do anything for him, literally.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like, you can find me on [tumblr](http://smilexdarling.tumblr.com).


End file.
